Shots Fired
by justanoutlaw
Summary: The day Alice found her father's gun.


**Discussing headcanons about Alice's upbringing and what kind of disciplinarian Killian was, along with an incident we both agree certainly happened when she was young with killianmesmalls, lead to this.**

**Trigger warning: mentions of guns. No one is hurt, none are used in a purposefully harmful manner. But in this world, it's not as easy to lock away your guns.**

Maybe he shouldn't have had the stupid thing in the first place.

Maybe he should've kept it on the Jolly.

No, he told himself. He had it there for a reason. If anyone tried to hurt him or his daughter, he had to protect them. He kept the gun locked away with magic he assumed that only he could break down.

It was the first time he'd realize that Alice also had magic.

She was only 5 years old and they had gone over weapon safety a million times.

"Yes, Papa has a sword and a gun. They aren't for you to use, they're only for papa. He's the one that protects the tower. It's his job, not yours."

Of course, he wasn't stupid. She was 5, if he left things in her reach, she'd grab them. He did his part as a responsible parent to make sure that she was safe.

When Alice would grow up and go into the world, many assumed she came out sweet as sugar, never breaking the rules and listening to her papa.

They should've been there for that scene.

He had gone out of the tower to take a leak, that was it. Most of the time he used the bathroom chambers, but sometimes it was nice to get some fresh air. Sure, he felt guilty that his daughter couldn't experience it, but there were times he needed it in between his trips to town for his own sanity. He kissed the top of his daughter's head, said he'd be back in a moment and scaled down.

He was halfway through pulling his pants back up when he heard the shot fired.

Killian had timed how long it took him to scale the tower. 10 to 20 minutes if he had stuff with him, 5 minutes on days like that where he had simply gone down for a breather.

That day, he swore he practically flew up there.

His heart was racing a mile a minute and his eyes darted around the tower. The smell of smoke from the gun was still in the air and he could see a bullet hole in the wall. Finally, he found Alice, sitting by her bed with her eyes widened and the revolver in her hand. He rushed over to her, but was slow about taking the gun, for fear it'd go off again. He unloaded it and dropped to his knees, checking every square inch of her.

"Are you okay?" She was silent for a moment. "Alice! Are you okay?" His voice was firm, a level it only got to out of necessity.

Alice looked up at him, her eyes still wide. "I'm…I'm fine."

There was no sign of damage, just that she was in shock. "Jesus Christ, Alice." The words slip out of his mouth and he can't stop. "You could've gotten yourself killed! How many times have I told you to not go anywhere near Papa's gun? How did you even get in the box?"

"I…I just touched it and it opened."

"Why would you touch the box?"

"Because…I just…I just wanted to see it." Tears welled up in her eyes and for once, he wasn't tempted to crack.

"It is not a toy, Alice Jones." He let out a deep breath through his nose. "It's a weapon. I have it, to protect us. That means, that it could hurt you. That's the last thing I want!"

Tears fell down her face and her lip jutted out. "I'm sorry, Papa!"

"Just…go in the corner. Now!"

Alice got up and took off like the shot that had just hit the wall. Killian put the gun back into the box, but with her back turned, he found a new place to hide it. His body was shaking and he knew he needed to calm down.

Killian walked a line. He would never be like his father, not if he could help it. He knew that Alice needed love and support. He listened to her fears and what upset her. He never once mocked her for it.

And yet…he also knew that she needed discipline. She had a rough life, but that didn't mean that she could break the rules.

He left her in the corner for a bit, going around the tower and picking up her toys, placing them in the chest along with her art supplies. He redid his plans for dinner, there would be no dessert that evening. She'd be going to bed right after they ate, too.

God, what was the right punishment for this?

Eventually, Killian went back to the corner and gently turned Alice around. "Alice…you scared me. When I was down there and I heard that gunshot…I didn't know what I was going to be walking back up to."

"I just wanted to see it."

"I know, but that is not something for you. You're the child, Alice. As I said, you have many toys to choose from. That was not a toy and definitely not something you should've taken."

"I know that now."

"Do you know how badly you could've been hurt?"

Alice slowly nodded. "It…it was scary."

"Because guns are. They're not something fun and I hope I never have to use mine."

"I'm sorry, Papa."

"I know. That doesn't mean you're not in trouble. Bed, right after dinner and tomorrow you'll be spending some time writing why this was a bad idea."

She slowly nodded. "Okay."

"I love you, Starfish, you know that? It's the only reason why I'm being this hard."

Alice nodded. "I know, Papa. I love you too."


End file.
